Help 911
by cindythechef
Summary: Shawn leaves the station and is involved in an accident. He is kidnapped by the van that hit him and the whole SBPD team have to race to find him before it is too late. No one will come out of this latest adventure unscathed.
1. Chapter 1

(My kids tell me I am to sweet and I am starting this new story to answer my children's challenge for me to find my inner psychopath. No one will die but by the end everyone will get whumped Muhahahaha)

Lassiter had been trying to get Shawn in the gun range for seven long years. He remembered his last partner claiming that he was an expert shot and he saw Spencer take an amazingly accurate shot at his kidnapper's radiator, while holding onto his hood. He couldn't stand it anymore. He enlisted Henry and Juliet to gang up on him and the three of them finally broke his resolve.

Shawn stood in the cubicle next to Lassiter sighing and fidgeting, he was actually nervous. He worked really hard for people not to see the real Spencer, and now he is going to have to either show them what kind of a shot he is or condemn himself to a lifetime of gloating from Lassie. He shook his head NOTHING is worth putting up with that.

Lassie offered to go first since he held the range record for best shot. He slowly and methodically lined up each shot and with precision unmatched by anyone(until now). He pulled the sheet back and admired his work. Lassiter smugly told Shawn not to feel bad if he cant get his shots as perfect as his.

Shawn rolled his eyes at the older officer and didn't even look at the target, he let of six shots in fast order. He tossed the gun on the table and said, "Can I go now." Lassiter snorted, "You didn't even look at the target, you will be lucky to if you hit it once." Shawn just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe, maybe not, check."

Lassiter rolled his eyes and pushed the button to bring the target back, he could barely believe his eyes. Spencer's target looked exactly like his and he stammered, "What the.. How the hell?"

Shawn plopped down from the counter he was sitting on and said, "Lassie, come on, remember who my Dad is (wrapping an arm around Henry). I was more equipped to be a cop at 11 then most guys are when they leave the academy." Lassiter still couldn't get any coherent words out of his mouth. Shawn smiled at him and patted his shoulder and smugly whispered in his ear, "Hmm maybe that long standing record of yours is no more." He quickly (biting his lips to keep from laughing) left before Lassiter got control of his senses; they were in a gun range after all he didn't want to give Lassie the time to remember that fact and use him as a stand in paper target.

Henry chuckled at his son as they left he told him, "Don't feel bad kid, he is the one who wanted the challenge." Shawn just smiled.

Shawn waited for a minute for Juliet to follow him; he figured she was probably stuck down stairs consoling her partner and his bruised ego.

He looked at his Dad and told him he would see him later and he asked him to tell Jules bye for him.

He walked out of the station still chuckling at the evening's events. He started on off to his apartment on his bike. About 5 minutes down the road he noticed a large black van coming up behind him at a high rate of speed.

He thought to himself, "_gesh man you don't have to ride up my butt, I will get over"._ He barely finished the thought when he felt the impact of the van on him and his motorcycle.

He slid, still on astride his bike, about 20 feet before he came to a painful stop. He tried to stand up but he couldn't. He pulled out his phone and started to text his Dad, HELP911 but before he could finish the message two men came out of the van and he pretended to still be unconscious. The men threw him in the back of the van and took off.

He quickly finished the text in black van, help hurt taken and he managed to touch send, before his captors saw the fact that he was awake and he had a phone.

They pulled to the side of the road. The big angry looking man threw his phone into the road and then bound him with duct tape. He forced Shawn's hands behind his back, causing his shoulders to erupt in pain. They bound his feet as well. Shawn was now completely at the mercy of his captors.

What did they want? What did he do to them? He leaned his head on the floor of the van and pleaded to the heavens for his Dad to have gotten that text and Lassiter not to be so mad at him that he wouldn't come to help.

Henry was about to leave for the night when his phone chirped, announcing he had a text. He saw it was from Shawn and what he read made his heart drop, "Help 911 taken in black van hurt." He was visibly upset. Lassiter noticed as soon as he came up the stairs and he rushed to the elder Spencer's side, "What is wrong? What is going on? What are you looking at?"

Henry didn't speak he just handed Lassiter the phone. "Oh sweet Lady Liberty what has that numbskull gotten himself into now?" He motioned to his partner, "Come one O'Hara we need to go and find your boyfriend." Juliet looked surprised and Henry showed he the text and said, "I don't know what this means detective but I am sure as hell going to find out."

They followed the path Shawn would take to go home and 5 minutes from the station they ran across a black motorcycle in pieces on the side of the road. Lassiter looked at the pieces of the mangled wreckage and just let out an anxious sigh, "O'Hara call for forensics we need to find Spencer now. He has to be seriously hurt after a collision like this."

Henry finally pulled in beside them, when he saw the mangled bike his knees gave way. Luckily Lassiter was there to steady him. Lassiter looked at Henry and assured him, "We will find him, I promise." Henry gave a weak smile to the detective; "I don't doubt you will find him, I just pray you find him alive."

Lassiter squeezed his shoulder, "So do I, so do I" and he walked back to the cruiser to begin to organize the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Henry went home and Lassiter busied himself with processing the crime scene. He wanted to over see it himself; he was determined not to miss anything. He had seen a lot of gruesome scenes in his day, but this one belonged to a friend, well sort of. Seeing the stretch of 20 plus feet of blood from where Spencer slid across the blacktop when he wrecked was making him ill.

Juliet was sitting in Lassiter's car and the thought came to her to run a trace on Shawn's phone. She punched in the information on the computer and was excited to see that the phone was only about 2 miles away.

She yelled at Carlton she would be right back and took the car to where the program said the phone was. She found it lying in the middle of the road. By some miracle it looked like no other cars had run over it. She bagged it then walked around to see if the kidnappers might have left any other clues, then she went back to the crime scene.

Juliet sat in her car holding the bag with the iPhone in the bright green Psych case. She was trying hard to keep her "Cop Face" on but it wasn't working and small tears began to roll down her cheeks. Lassiter came over to the car and knelt beside the open drivers side door.

Juliet smiled and weakly said, "I was able to find his phone." Lassiter took the bag with the phone in it and gave it to Officer Myers to process. Then he turned his attention to his partner, "Listen O,Juliet we will find Spencer and we will get him back alive. Juliet smiled and thanked her partner. She wiped her tears and got out of the car and helped finish the scene.

Henry had just pulled into his driveway. He sat in his truck for a minute thinking about the evening, seeing his son's destroyed motorcycle and he kept rereading that text in his head, "Help 911 taken in black van hurt."

He took his frustration out on his steering wheel, he hated to feel helpless and right now he felt nothing but helpless.

Frustrated and exhausted he gathered his belongings and headed for the house.

He went to unlock his front door and there was a package waiting for him. He reached down and grabbed the package and then went inside.

He gently laid the it on the coffee table and sat on the sofa next to it. He examined it carefully trying to make sure the damn thing wouldn't blow up on him if he opened it.

Finally he decided it was safe enough and he opened the box.

Inside was his son's helmet, cracked in two pieces and a CD. He went over to the computer and put the CD in and there was a video on it. The video showed Shawn sitting in a chair with his head slumped to his chest. He could barely tell it was Shawn. There was blood oozing out from the hundreds of cuts and abrasions all over his body.

He was staring so intently at his son that he almost missed the menacing voice that said, "Your son took my life, now I am going to take his, but not before I let him watch his friends pay for his crimes." A masked figure appeared on the screen then walked over to Shawn and grabbed his hair and forced him to face the camera. The masked man yelled, "Now say goodbye to Daddy!" Shawn was barely conscious but said, "Sorry Dad, I tried, Love you." That is all he was able to speak before his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he went unconscious again.

The masked man looked into the camera and said, "Be warned Judgment day is here" then the camera went black. Henry took his anger out on the wall beside the computer. Then he called and told Lassiter about the package.

Lassiter and Juliet ran from the scene and sped to Henry's house. Lassiter was the first to enter the residence. He found Henry sitting silent on the sofa holding the box with his son's broken helmet. Lassiter quietly sat on the coffee table and asked what was in the box.

Henry didn't speak he just tilted the box for Lassiter to see. When it registered in Lassiter's brain that the contents of the box were not random pieces of plastic and fabric but Shawn's helmet his eyes got as big as saucers. Henry told the two detectives the video is all ready in the computer.

The two walked over to the desk with Henry's laptop and watched the video. They were both in stunned silence at the broken unconscious figure on the screen. When the video ended Juliet looked at Lassiter, "What does he mean Shawn took his life, Shawn has never killed anyone and what does he mean about judgment day?"

Henry heard the detectives questioning. He said, "My guess is Shawn was the person responsible for breaking a case that caused someone to die, maybe in prison?" Lassiter smiled, "Come on O'Hara that is a great place to start. Looking at his partner he told her lets get this new evidence back to the station and then we will dive back in to all the cases Spencer worked on and see if anyone died while in prison.

He apologetically took the box from Henry's hands. Henry grabbed his arm and said, "Be careful, you heard what that mad man said he was going to make Shawn watch as his friends pay for his crimes." Lassiter nodded his head at the old man and said, "I will and you be careful yourself."

They headed back to the station. When they walked in to the station they noticed that the chief was in her office, they knocked on the door to her office. She waved them in and they began to bring her up to speed on the events of the evening. They showed her the broken helmet and the video. The three of them sat in silence for a moment while the video paused at the image Spencer's bloody face.

She steadied herself for a minute and then said, "I came back to the station tonight because of these." She handed an envelope with pictures in it to the two detectives. "I found them on my bed this evening and I couldn't stay in the house alone." Juliet looked concerned and a little confused at the chief then opened the envelope.

The Chief said, "I guess I am the first one to have judgment from that maniac." In the envelope were pictures of Iris (the chiefs spunky 3 year old) sleeping in her bed and playing on the swing set, the last picture was of Iris and he husband driving away. Juliet looked at the chief, "Where are Iris and your husband now?"

Chief trying to steady her voice, "He took her this morning to his parents house in Ojai, they should be safe there. I told my husband too be extra vigilant. They will be there for 3 days. Listen to me detectives, we have three days to catch this bastard before they get back." Lassiter interrupted, "If we want to get Spencer back alive we don't have the luxury of 3 days, we need to find him now."

Lassiter and Juliet had no sooner sat down at their desk, and then they saw Officer Myers came running up to them, "We were able to get a print off the phone. Vincent Romano. Lassiter looked at the Officer and said, "YES, good job!"

Lassiter typed in Vincent Romano into the computer and sure enough he had a rap sheet as long as your arm and he has a son Dominique Romano who was put in jail when Spencer solved the mini mart robbery case and it says here that Dominique was found dead last week, beaten to death by his cell mate.

Lassiter sat back in his chair, "So we are dealing with a grieving father who wants to take the pain of loosing his son away by causing another father to grieve even more then him." Lassiter sat running his fingers through his short hair when out of the corner of his eye he saw Henry enter the station.

Juliet said, "You sit, I will go and see what he wants." She walked up to Henry, "Henry, you need to stay at home in case they call, I told you we would keep you informed. We all ready have a suspect from a print on Shawn's phone. We are getting closer."

Henry didn't answer the woman he just gave her another disk. "This was attached to the refrigerator, I found it when I went to get a beer. I haven't watched it yet I came straight here." Juliet rubbed his shoulder and ushered him into the Chief's office and motioned for Lassiter to join them.

They put the disk into the Chief's computer. The masked man was sitting next to a lifeless Shawn, still strapped to a chair. The man began, with a snide tone that sent shivers down their spines, "So, Daddy Spencer it is time for your first payment for sonny boys crimes."

He never said another word; he picked up a baseball bat and slammed it into Shawn's leg. The pain caused Shawn to instantly wake up screaming. You could almost hear Henry's heart breaking. He walked over to Shawn's other side and Shawn looked at the masked man and said, "Please, don't."

The man didn't listen and he swung the bat as hard as he could into Shawn's other leg. Shawn screamed in pain and then laid his head down and they could all see the catches in Shawn's chest as he cried over the pain.

The masked man held up a picture of Buzz with the words, He is next on it.


	3. Chapter 3

After the image of Buzz was shown, the video went black. The four sat in silence for a minute trying to comprehend what they just witnessed. Henry had managed to remain stoic the whole evening but after he witnessed that maniac break both of his precious son's legs he crumbled.

Henry broke down and just wept the other three in the room didn't know how to handle the man that was always tough as nails, no matter the situation. Vick began to step from behind her desk when she remembered. McNab? Where is McNab? Lassiter told the chief that he left several hours ago. Vick ordered Lassiter and O'Hara to his apartment to check up on him.

While they went to check on the young officer Vick tried her best to comfort Henry. She ordered him to go down to the vacant holding cells and lie down for a little while. She promised that she would send for him if they received any news on Shawn or receive any videos. He reluctantly agreed, and made his way down the stairs to the empty holding cells.

Lassiter and Juliet made it to the McNab residence in record time. They ran up to the door and Francine answered. Before they could speak she said, "Oh thank God it is you, Buzzy should have been home hours ago, he hasn't been answering his cell either, I was just going to call you and report him missing."

Switching into cop mode, and deliberately not telling Francine all that happened tonight, they asked if Buzz was going to make any stops before he got home. She said, "Yes, Buzz was going to stop by the grocery store, you know the one on Market and get dinner. He always stops at the ice cream shop next door and gets some dessert too. Please find my sweet Buzz detectives"

Juliet gave Francine a hug and promised her they would find him. They went back to the car and began their search. They didn't have to go very far. Buzz's car was parked at the far end of the parking lot but Buzz was nowhere to be found.

They both searched the perimeter but no Buzz. Lassiter told Juliet to go and let Francine know what is going on and he was going to call for back up. Just as he opened the phone the chief called. She reported, "Buzz just stumbled into the police station beaten and bleeding but okay."

Juliet raced to tell Francine then they made their way to the station. The trio walked into the station and Francine saw Buzz and took off running to his side. She smothered him in kisses and helped hold the icepack on his shoulder.

Lassiter sat down next to Buzz and said, "Glad to see you safe and sound McNab, can you tell me what happened to you tonight?"

Buzz sat up a little straighter and said, "Yes sir. I stopped to get dinner for Frannie and I and when I got out of the car this man asked me to help him from across the parking lot. When I started to walk over to him this black van ran into me. I went flying and hit the pavement on my shoulder pretty hard. I went unconscious for a few minutes and when I woke up this man in a mask was taking pictures of me. When he was done they took me in the back of the van and started to punch me. They waited till I started to bleed and then wrapped a blindfold over my eyes and I heard them take some more pictures. They kicked me out of the van a block from the station, I hobbled in here and they called you."

Francine held Buzz so tight he actually complained she was hurting him. Lassiter told the young officer to go to the hospital and get checked out. Buzz resisted, "First, please tell me what is going on. I came in and people told me the mad man that had Shawn said I was next. What happened to Shawn?"

Lassiter took a deep breath and explained everything to him. By the time he was finished Buzz sat there in stunned silence with his mouth wide open and Francine was in tears. Buzz told his boss, "I will go and get checked out, but I am going to come back and help find my friend." Francine said, "Once Buzz is all checked out at the hospital I will go home and make you all my famous breakfast casserole, you all are going to need a pick me up by morning."

Lassiter smiled at the kindness of the energetic red head and told them, Officer Watson will take them to the hospital and then take you both home. Buzz slowly got up and started to walk out, he stopped abruptly and told Lassiter, "Shawn is tougher than we give him credit for. He will make it through this." Lassiter didn't say anything he just gave him an unconvincing smile.

Once the Sun rose, they were all working hard investigating any leads. Juliet was sitting at her desk with her head in her hand reading something on her computer. When she drifted to sleep for a second and her head left her hand and almost hit her keyboard. She startled awake and announced to Lassiter that she was gong to run to the coffee shop on the corner and get them all some coffee to wake them up.

Lassiter didn't even bother to look up from his report. She started to get angry then noticed he was fast asleep. She quickly left him a note and headed to the coffee shop.

She walked in and had a pleasant conversation with Jeannie their regular barista. She got the extra large coffees with a couple of shots of espresso in them. She got back into her car and went to set the coffee on the seat beside her but she froze. On the seat was a gift bag with a pineapple wrapped in a torn and bloody shirt and there was another disc attached to the shirt.

She stepped out of the car with gun drawn but nothing was out of the ordinary. She went back to the station. When she got back she raced in with the package and the four coffees.

She ran straight for the Chief's office, as she passed Lassiter she said, "Go get Henry, there is another package." Within minutes they all sat in the chief's office ready to open the bag. The chief slowly opened it and took out the pineapple and gently untied the bloody shirt. She held up the shirt and it was ripped to shreds, it had burn marks on it and it was stained with Shawn's blood. The chief put it in an evidence bag but Henry held it close to his heart.

She placed the bloodstained fruit back in the bag and put the CD in the computer. The video started with the image of a bloody and shirtless Shawn still strapped in a chair. The masked man sweetly said, "Wake up, wake up it is time to play." When there was no response from Shawn the masked man told him with a stern voice to wake up or else. Still nothing. For a moment there was silence as the man left the room.

Shawn was obviously barely alive. The man returned to the room. This time he was holding a stick with a glowing red circle on the end. Lassiter shook his head and uttered in disbelief, "Oh my God he isn't going to brand Spence is he?" Before he finished the words the man pressed the red hot metal into Shawn's already bloody abdomen. Shawn screamed in pain while the smoke billowed from the hot pole leaving its mark forever on his stomach.

He finally withdrew the pole and said angrily, "Next time I tell you to wake up, I recommend you do it." Shawn not having the energy for one of his smart-ass remarks just gave his captor a dirty look.

His captor knelt down beside him and began to show him a series of pictures, his captor hissed, "I told you your friends were going to pay. I killed the big oaf last night, as he was buying ice cream. His death is all your fault Shawn."

Shawn didn't have the energy to yell and scream like he wanted to but as he was looking at the photos of what he thought was Buzz's dead body, he cried and just kept repeating, "Oh Buzz man, I am so, so sorry."

Henry sat in the chair watching his son's heart shatter as he thinks Buzz is dead and that it was his fault. He was holding on so tightly to the arms of the chair his knuckles were white.

He muttered over and over again, "Don't believe him kid, Buzz isn't dead. He is fine please don't believe him." He kept repeating those words over and over again in hopes that if he said them enough he could somehow communicate those to Shawn psychically.

They all watched, as the small will to live that was left in Shawn's eyes vanished. The man told Shawn it was time for him to sleep again. He picked up a pistol off the table and smashed it across Shawn's forehead. He was instantly unconscious and a steady stream of blood flowed from the wound.

The masked man took the gun and shot Shawn four times, once in both knees and then in the stomach twice.

He then looked at the camera and said, "There is map to where you can find your precious psycho at the location where he sent my son to his death. You better hurry if you want to get him back alive I am betting he has an hour tops." Then the camera went black.

(Thank you all for reading and reviewing ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Lassiter looked at Juliet and repeated, "The place where his son was sent to his death, where did they arrest Dominique?" Juliet with a determined look on her face said, "I don't know, but I will tell you in five minutes, I will find out, you rally the troops."

Within 10 minutes they were all dressed in bullet proof vests on they we on the way to meet SWAT at the warehouse that Dominique was arrested in.

On their way out the door they almost ran over Buzz as he was returning from the hospital. Lassiter growled at him, "You fit for duty?" Buzz looked at him seriously and said, "YES SIR!" Lassiter gave him a once over not believing him but said, "Well come on then we are going to go and get Spencer."

They arrived at the abandoned building. Lassiter immediately took charge of the situation. He ordered Gus and Henry to stay in the car until they were able to clear the building (knowing full well that neither man would listen with Spencer injured). He then hollered at another officer and told him to radio for the trauma helicopter, when they get to Spencer he wont have much time left.

They took off encircling the building, when received word that everyone was in position he crashed through the front door followed closely by Juliet. They approached the small room that they thought Spencer was being held in and Lassiter kicked the door in. Juliet was the first into the room with her gun drawn.

No Shawn, only a stained metal chair with bent legs (that they knew were from that maniac breaking his legs with a bat) there was a puddle of blood under it and a note in a crisp white envelope was lying in the seat. Juliet took two steps into the room and stopped when she heard a strange noise. Before she could say anything to her partner she crashed through the floor.

Lassiter tried to grab her as she fell, but he was too late. He lay on his stomach to get a look at Juliet. She was in the bottom of a 20 foot hole she had some bruises and cuts from the fall but the only injury she noticed was an obviously broken ankle.

While Lassiter struggled to get his partner from the hole, Henry and Gus came in and when they saw the empty chair you could see the old mans countenance fall. This whole ordeal was rapidly aging them all but Henry most of all.

Gus ran over to the chair and picked up the envelope. He stifled a few gag's as he looked at the surrounding blood. He came back over to Lassie and Henry and read the letter. He was sure to read it loud enough for Juliet to hear it.

_Well, you made it to the place where Shawn and I had our fun. I felt so bad taking Shawn from his Dear old Daddy, I decided to drop him off at his house before I skipped town. I wanted Shawn to die at home. That is what every son wishes. _

_Oh Henry, Shawn says bye! _

He grabbed Gus's arm and told him to come on. Lassiter didn't move at first but Juliet told Lassiter she needed him to go find Shawn. She assured him the fire department was just as capable of lowering a rope and pulling her out as he was. He continued to protest. Juliet looked at him with every bit of strength she had and said, "Carlton Lassiter, Listen to me and listen to me good. I love Shawn and I can't be there for him right now, as my partner I NEED you to be there for him, for me and God forbid he isn't going to make it please tell him how much I love him and how only being at the bottom of a hole could keep me from him."

When she got done speaking the strength was gone and she broke down into sobs. The first real sobbing she allowed herself to have since this whole ordeal started.

Lassiter left his sobbing partner and found the nearest officer he could find and grabbed him by the shirt collar and said, "I am leaving you in charge of her protection, if as much of a hair on her head is damaged while she is in that hole. I am going to hold YOU personally responsible and I will haunt your dreams for eternity, you got that." The young officer literally quaked and said "Uh Yes Sir" he saluted him and then took off to stand guard at the whole.

Lassiter raced toward his car and grabbed Gus and Henry and told Buzz and a few others to follow him to Henry's house. He started to get in the car but paused and yelled, "Lets go people we are racing against the clock here."

Lights and sirens rang out as the caravan of cop cars made it to Henry's house in moments. They attacked his house much like they did the warehouse. Securing the perimeter and then Lassiter and Buzz were in place to crash through the front door. Henry gave them the key to the door and Lassiter quietly unlocked the door, twisted the nob and in one fluid motion he stood up and pushed the door open with his gun drawn.

As soon as the door opened wide enough for him to enter a gunshot rang out. The kidnapper left a pistol rigged to go off when they opened the door. Everyone took cover when they heard a shot ring out. Lassiter was pushed back but he didn't fall down. The bullet hit in the upper arm, luckily it just grazed him,it didn't stop his entry into the house but it did piss him off. He looked down at his arm and he said, "SON OF A BITCH". He yelled for McNab to follow him and they continued entry into the house.

Clearing the living room they went into the kitchen and that is where they found Shawn's beaten and seemingly lifeless body. Lassiter cleared the rest of the downstairs then motioned for the others to come in and clear the upper floor and attic. He also radioed for the helicopter to come and waved Henry and Gus over.

While Lassiter was signaling everyone, Buzz knelt down beside Shawn's broken body. He gently felt the side of his neck and was relieved to find a pulse. Buzz tried to sweetly assure the unconscious man that help was on its way. Buzz said, "Hey buddy we have you now, that maniac cant hurt you anymore, I promise." For a moment Shawn woke up he looked at Buzz and said, "Shit, this must be heaven. Buzz man I am so sorry for getting you killed."

He coughed and blood sputtered out of his mouth and he continued weakly, "Buzz man if this is heaven why does it still hurt so bad. Then his eyes popped open in realization, "God, I hope God didn't send me down below because of Mexico, nah then you wouldn't be here." He smiled and then went unconscious


	5. Chapter 5

After the scene was secured, Henry and Gus came running to Shawn's side. He was barely recognizable. Henry began to do like he always does when Shawn in hurt, he takes an inventory of all his injuries.

His face was covered in scrapes and bruises and an oozing gash on his forehead from the last pistol whipping. He gently ran his hands through his hair in a way only he did, to let him know he was there with him.

His torso looked more like a package of ground beef, than the torso of a man and his poor legs; Henry shook his head in disbelief. Those poor legs they had to witness being viciously broken. He didn't think anything could be worse than seeing that video but he was wrong, seeing them in person was much worse.

They were curved in an unnatural position and he had a gun shot in each knee. Henry let out a deep breath and thought, "If he survives, will he ever be able to walk again?"

Gus was on the other side of Shawn just stunned. He tried to find a place on his arm to rub that wasn't covered in bruises or scratches, but he couldn't find any place. He just decided to tell Shawn that he was here. He promised him a smoothie everyday in the hospital if he would just be okay.

The approaching paramedics snapped Henry out of his thoughts. Henry was gently helped up and out of the way by Buzz. Lassiter extended a hand to help Gus.

The four men stood in an awkward silence while the paramedics gently rolled Shawn to one side and placed a backboard under him. They secured him to the board and then lifted him to the gurney. With military procession each of the paramedics went about the work of stabilizing Shawn for the trip to the hospital.

Within 10 minutes of their arrival they were out the door and loading him into the waiting helicopter. There was another set of paramedics from and ambulance that tried to take Lassiter to the hospital but he refused. He allowed them to bandage his arm but refused any other treatment. He gruffly waved them away telling them, "It is a flesh wound, I am fine."

Lassiter left the other officers to process the scene. On his way out he left Officer Michaels in charge and he told him that Henry's house better look perfect when he retuned. The young man snapped to attention and said, "Yes Sir"

Shawn was being brought to St. Michael's hospital the same one they would take O'Hara to. Buzz, Gus, Henry and Lassiter all piled into Lassiter's squad car and took off for the hospital with lights flashing.

They arrived shortly after the helicopter had. Chief Vick was already sitting in the waiting room. They noticed her and walked over to her for any updates. Chief sighed and said, "Well O'Hara is fine she has a broken ankle, they are going to set it and put her in a cast. She will be on crutches and desk duty for a while but she should be fine, in time." Lassiter let out a relieved breath.

Vick noticed that his shirt was torn and bloody and he had a bandage around his arm. She said, "Well, what the hell happened to you?" Lassiter waved it off and simply repeated what he told the paramedics earlier, "It's a flesh wound."

Henry was patient as long as he could be. He nervously asked Vick if she heard any word on Shawn? She frowned and said, "The doctor came out after his initial exam and told me that he arrived alive, he told me he has too many injuries to list but we will work on him and let you know what we find."

The five worn out people took their places in the waiting room to begin their vigil. The maniac father set out to torture Shawn and everyone that was involved in his son's arrest, he had succeeded. One battered officer, two injured detectives and a psychic that is left fighting for his life.

They sat in the waiting room for the first two hours in relative silence. They were all surprised when the doors opened and Juliet came hobbling out on crutches with tears streaming down her face. Lassiter ran to help guide her to the chairs, and make sure she didn't fall.

Once she got settled they asked her why she was crying? She said, "I was in a room across the hall from the where Shawn was and I heard them working on him." She paused and started to sniffle again. Lassiter wrapped his unhurt arm around his partner to try and comfort her.

After a few minutes Henry couldn't stand the silence. He mustered up as much calm as he could and asked Juliet, "Please, can you tell me what you know so far?" Juliet grabbed Henry's hands and shook her head yes.

Juliet started, "I knew he was coming, when the nurses and doctors started to run around and get ready. Within just a couple a minutes of them radioing, they busted through the door with him. I could hear them say he isn't breathing." She had to pause to compose her self and Henry just sat back in his chair letting those words ring in his head. His only son wasn't breathing.

After another minute Juliet continued, "They tried to put a ventilator in, but his throat was closed, so they had to do a tracheotomy on him. (Henry muttered OH GOD.) I thought I would hear him scream at that point (Juliet's voice began to crack) but nothing. Another nurse saw me crying and realized I was his girlfriend and she is the one that gave me these crutches so I could wait out here. When I was leaving they were taking him to surgery."

Her voice quivering from emotion she looked at Henry, "God Henry he didn't even look like himself. I was able to blow him a kiss and I told him that we loved him, just in case." She couldn't say anymore she held her head in her hands. Henry reached over and lifted her chin up to his. He had tears streaming down his face. He said, "Thank you!" Juliet was surprised, "Thank you for what I couldn't do anything." Henry swallowed hard, "If he doesn't, (pausing to steady his voice, nearly choking on the words) if he doesn't, make it out of the operating room the last thing he heard was the voice of the woman he loved (Henry's voice was now almost a whisper from the tears) reminding him how much he is loved."

He grabbed Juliet and wrapped her in a huge hug. He whispered in her ear, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, "Juliet he loves you so much and told me he thought you were his forever." Juliet and Henry just held each other. No one was immune from the tears not even Lassiter.


	6. Chapter 6

(I fixed some errors in chapter four and added a few missing lines. Thank you for reading. Now that Shawn is safe and sound we have to find the psycho that did this to him. This was a fluff break. The inner Psychopath isn't quit finished yet )

They waited and waited and waited some more. They took turns either yelling at nurses to give them information on Shawn or threatening them with their badges. No matter what they did the answer was always the same, "As soon as he is out of surgery a doctor will come and talk to you."

They all took turns stretching their legs and fetching coffee or food for the group. Even Juliet took the opportunity with, Buzz's help, to get some coffee. Lassiter and Henry never left the waiting room. Both men couldn't bare the thought of the doctor coming with information and them not be there. Henry staying was easy he was his Dad no one expected he would leave.

Lassiter now people wondered about his refusing to leave. He would never admit it to anyone but he thought of himself as Shawn's older brother. Shawn definitely had the pain in the butt younger brother role down pat. Lassiter felt responsible for keeping Shawn out of trouble and he was feeling guilty not seeing this trouble coming his way.

Juliet, Buzz, Gus and Vick all ended up falling asleep while Henry and Lassiter paced. It looked like they were walking century duty guarding the sleeping friends. After 12 long excruciating hours a very tired and bloody doctor appeared at the doors of the emergency room.

Since they were the only ones left in the waiting room the doctor knew whom they were waiting to hear about. He pulled up the chair in front of the group and he allowed them all a minute to get awake and alert enough to hear what he was about to tell them.

He began, "My Name is Doctor Weiss, I operated on Shawn. Let me begin by telling you that he is alive. (A collective sigh came from the group). I am not afraid to say, I am not sure why he is alive but he is real fighter. Let me start from the top with what we did to him and what was wrong. It is a crazy long list, He had a major concussion, that will be monitored and he should heal from it. The gash on his forehead from the pistol whipping is sewn up. He is severely dehydrated and he lost a ton of blood. When he came in he stopped breathing because his trachea collapsed and we had to do a tracheotomy on him. Do you have any questions so far?"

Henry rubbed his head and said, "Dear Lord we aren't even past the neck yet and he should have died three times all ready."

The Doctor agreed, "Your son is one of those once and a lifetime patients. One I will talk about forever."

Henry was getting agitated at the doctor's bunny trail and asked him to please continue.

The Doctor looked at Henry and apologized, "Shawn was shot in his stomach twice, and fortunately it didn't cause any real damage. He also had a burn on his stomach from where he was branded by his captor (shaking his head in disbelief). We bandaged it and treated it the best we could. He had a number of abrasions and lacerations that we cleaned. The things that will have to be fixed when he is stronger, months down the road, are his legs. The gunshots shattered his kneecaps and the bones in his legs had multiple breaks. When he recovers from his primary injuries he will likely be confined to a wheel chair till he is strong enough for surgery to fix his legs and he will have to undergo a double total knee replacement."

He waited for a minute to let all that he said sink in to the group. They were all a mixture of stunned, saddened and happy that he was at least alive.

The Doctor patted Henry's leg and said, "This is going to be a long road for your son but with the support it looks like he has, he should make a complete recovery given time, a lot of time."

Henry thanked the doctor and asked when they could see him. He told them, "Shawn is in ICU and he would allow Henry to stay, but the others could come in for a few minutes and then they would have to leave. It looks like you all need some rest. If I know Dad here he wont leave his son's side till he is wide awake and telling him to go home. Am I right?"

Everyone in the room began to snicker, the doctor had Henry pegged perfectly. The Doctor smiled and told the group that a nurse would be along shortly to get them. He gave them his card and told them he would be on call all night if they needed him.

About 30 minutes later a nurse came in and brought them to Shawn's room. The group walked in, no one knowing quite what to say at the sight of the normal exuberant young man lying in a hospital bed hooked up to a room full of equipment.

Buzz was overwhelmed he looked at Shawn and gave him a sad smile and then left to wait for the others in the waiting room. Karen wanted to pat him somewhere to let him know she was there but everywhere she tried to touch was either bandaged or broken. She pulled her hand back and just told Shawn, "Get better fast. That is an order) Then she softened and said, "We are all thinking about you." She squeezed Henry's arm and told him that there would be a guard on the room till we capture the psycho that did this.

Gus came over and gave his slightly curved hand a gentle fist bump. He told him, "Buddy, I am glad we have you back and you have a whole bunch of people that are going to be right here helping you. I will be at the front of the line with a smoothie for you. I love you buddy." He stopped at Henry and told him he would bring him some supplies from his house tomorrow. Henry thanked him.

Juliet got as close as she could get to Shawn and bent over and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. She whispered, "I love you so much Shawn, You are my forever." She straightened and hurried out of the room as fast as she could on one foot and crutches.

The only one left in the room was Lassiter. Looking intently at a spot on the floor he said, "I am sorry."

Henry looked at him puzzled, "Detective, what, in the world, are you sorry for. You are the one who led the way getting him back from that crazy person that took him."

Lassiter bit his bottom lip trying to stop the tears from falling from his eyes, "It is my job to keep Shawn safe, I should have seen this maniac coming from a mile away. I failed him and you."

Henry stood up and looked into Carlton's blue eyes that are now swimming in a sea of red. "Detective, I have lost count of how many times you have saved my son from his self. You always come in at the perfect moment and keep the crazy de jour from filling my son with bullets. This guy came from left field no one could have seen this coming. No one. You are a good detective and my son is lucky to work with you."

Lassiter weekly smiled, "Thank you, if you need anything, you call me okay, anything." Henry patted the detectives good arm, "Go home and get some rest Carton, you deserve it."

Henry tuned all the lights in the room off. Only a dim night-light over Shawn's bed was left on. Henry got settled in the plastic hospital chair. He looked at his son; so amazingly happy that he was alive and breathing and so worried how he would be when he finally woke up. Henry gently put his hand over Shawn's and quietly said, "Sleep well son, Daddy is here and Daddy isn't going anywhere till you show me those beautiful green eyes and tell me to get out. Then I probably wont leave then either. No matter what you have to go through while you recover, I will never leave your side. I love you Shawn and there isn't a prouder father than me. Sleep well and sweet dreams, you have already lived through the nightmare so you deserve some sweet dreams.


	7. Chapter 7

Henry never left Shawn's side the entire evening. He took turns between nodding off and just sitting and staring at his son. He tried to process the past few days. "How could a grieving father cause another father to suffer so much?" He shook his head in disbelief then looked at his son with pride. "He never stopped fighting." He made him self snicker at the next thought, "I guess that stubborn personality finally paid off for him."

He must have nodded off again because the next thing he remembered the sun was up and Gus was waking him up. Gus tried to be quiet but Henry was not a sound sleeper. Gus saw that he was awake and asked, "How is Shawn doing this morning?" Henry smiled a weak and sad smile and answered, "About the same, no signs of life yet from him."

Gus handed Henry the supplies from his house and then he opened a bag and showed him an assortment of drinks and snacks. He told the older man, "These should help him keep up is strength." Henry smiled and said thank you.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes then Gus broke the silence, "You know Mr. Spencer, he is going to be just fine. He made it through the last few days, recovery should be nothing for him. I will be here to help you with him every step of the way. He is my best friend, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for him."

Henry smiled, "Thank You Gus, that means so much to me. I envy the friendship that you two have, it is a very special thing." Gus smile and patted Shawn's arm, "I know, we are pretty lucky to have each other."

Gus stayed till he had to leave to do his route, but he promised to bring some dinner with him when he visited tonight. Henry smiled in appreciation and then he was left alone again with his son.

Throughout the day there was not any change in Shawn's condition but there was a steady stream of visitors. They all came in for a few minutes and then left Henry to stand watch over his boy.

Gus came in, as promised, that night and brought two jerk chicken dinners for them. The two men sat and chatted about Shawn and Gus's exploits as children. They didn't notice at first, a small tear falling from Shawn's eyes. Henry glanced over toward Shawn and about dropped his dinner when he saw the tear.

He started to rub Shawn on the arm to let him know that he was okay and Gus and him were there for him waiting for him to wake up. Still no open eyes but the two men could have sworn they saw a smile.

The two men sat and examined every breath and twitch that Shawn made looking for any more signs of life from him. After about two hours Gus decided that nothing was going to happen and he was going to go home. He got up to leave and gathered his stuff. Unfortunately he didn't notice Shawn's hand curl into a fist for him to bump on his way out.

Henry was alone again with his son. He cleaned up the room and turned off the lights except the one he always left on and he settled in the chair next to Shawn. He told Shawn, "We finally got you a room with one of those comfy recliner chairs. I can lean back now and not have to put a crick in my neck. I might have to get one of these for the house it really is pretty comfortable."

He leaned back in his chair and covered himself up and put his hand on top of Shawn's and told him good night. He leaned back and fell asleep. He woke up about an hour later feeling Shawn's fingers moving under his hand.

He kept his eyes closed and tried to feel what his son was doing, then it came to him, as his thumb and fore finger extended and made an "L", then the same fingers closed to form an "O", then the first two fingers made a "V" and then he closed his hand to form an "E".

Henry lost it when he realized what he was spelling. He gently rubbed his hand and said, "I Love you to Shawnie" He sat looking at his son with tears streaming down his face. He was almost willing Shawn to open his eyes and his will was rewarded. Shawn slowly opened his green eyes.

Henry was looking at him and with the biggest smile, "Well hello there, it is so wonderful to see you awake. I have started to go a little nuts holding up both ends of the conversation." Shawn just smiled at his Dad.

Henry asked if he remembered what happened. Shawn gave a small sad nod yes. Henry saw the sadness in his eyes and assured him he was safe now.

In that short exchange of words and glances Henry felt the weight of the world fall off his shoulders. He knew that anything they had to face would be okay now that he was awake.

Shawn looked with at his Dad with a pained look on his face and he pointed to his neck. His Dad understood what he was asking and began to tell him the whole story of how they found him and how his airway collapsed and the trach was the only way they could save him. He assured him that now that he is awake the doctor would surely remove it soon.

Shawn looked sad but understood. His eyes were starting to get really heavy. Henry told him to sleep some more and he would let the Doctor know he woke up and call and let people know you're awake.

Before he left the room he called Karen Vick. Henry was so excited he didn't even let her say hello he blurted out, "he is awake Karen, Shawn is awake." Karen let out a huge sigh of relief and told Henry, "Oh Henry, that is the best news I have heard all day." She paused for a minute; Henry could tell something was wrong. He said, "Karen you aren't telling me something really important, what is it?"

Karen answered, "Henry, we got another package today form the kidnapper. I guess he heard that Shawn was still alive and he sent us a letter saying, "So Shawnie boy is stronger than I thought he was. Guess my work isn't through. Oh how I hate to leave things unfinished."

Henry was furious he angrily whispered, so Shawn wouldn't hear, "God Dam it that Maniac is going to try and finish the job! We have to protect him!"

Karen assured him that the guard would continue to be posted outside the room until he is caught. "Henry we WILL catch him and we will not allow anything else happen to Shawn, okay, you have my word."

Henry just stood rubbing what was left of his hair, "Okay Karen, can you let everyone know about Shawn waking up for me. I was going to go outside and call everyone but not now. I know the guard is out there but I am not leaving my son's side till there is a toe tag on that insane freak or he is sharing a cell with a very angry gang member. I know your officer is there but after what he went through I am not going to trust his protection to anyone but me."

Karen said, "Henry, I feel the same way. I told my husband to stay a few more days with his family just in case. Have a good night and we will be in touch."


	8. Chapter 8

Henry did not leave his son's side the entire day. He was adamant that the mad man would not be able to finish the job. He was careful not to alert Shawn to the threats of the kidnaper. He figured he had enough to worry about just staying alive.

Shawn was awake and alert for a good portion of the Day. Lassie and Jules were busy chasing down clues but Karen stopped by and Karen brought Buzz with her.

When Shawn saw Karen he smiled at her and gave her a wave. When he saw Buzz he cried. He didn't remember seeing him when they found him the only thing he remembered was the kidnapper showing him pictures of his dead body. Shawn looked at his Dad and then looked at Buzz then back at his Dad and signed the word for dead and gave him a confusing look.

He chuckled and told Shawn that they only made it look like Buzz was dead. He was knocked around a bit but he survived and is fine. Buzz saw his concern and came over and hugged Shawn he said, "I am just fine buddy. I am sorry that you thought I was dead but I wasn't. I am glad that you aren't, you know, either. Shawn smiled up at the gentle giant and signed "Me too".

When Gus came before his route Shawn looked at him with a sparkle in his eye. Gus was so exited to see his best friend awake. They shared a signed conversation and for a moment they weren't visitor and patient, they were just best friends. Before he left, Henry pulled Gus over to the side of the room so Shawn would not hear him and he asked if he could bring Him his gun from home. Gus looked at him weird and asked why he wanted his gun? Henry didn't go into detail, he just told him that the maniac that hurt Shawn was going to try and finish the job and he wanted to be ready for him, if he got past police.

Gus looked over Henry's shoulder at Shawn and nodded in agreement. When Shawn noticed them whispering he picked up a bottle of soda from the table in front of him and threw it on the ground. Both looked at Shawn ready to jump to action. They saw a very angry looking Shawn, he signed "What, tell me". Gus said, "Talk to your Dad. I will see ya tonight buddy."

Gus left and Henry took his place back at Shawn's side. Henry sat and thought how much he should tell Shawn. He was silent for a few moments and then Shawn smacked at Henry's arm and signed, "He is going to try and finish isn't he?" Henry closed his eyed to settle himself and he shook his head yes. Shawn laid back into the bed and closed his eyes tight. Henry was trying to think how to encourage him when he noticed that Shawn was crying.

Henry reached over to Shawn's face and gently pulled it to where he could look him eye to eye. Henry said, "Listen to me young man, he might be coming to finish the job, but if he gets past the police, he is going to find a pissed of father in his path that will be damned if he lets him hurt another hair on his boys head."

Shawn smiled at his Dad and signed, "Thank you." He patted the side of his face, never forget that you are the most important thing in my life son, and I would lay down my life to protect you."

That afternoon the guard that was keeping watch over Shawn got a text from the Chief. The text asked him to come down and help her bring something to Shawn. The officer stuck his head into the room and told the two men that he would be right back. As soon as the officer left a male nurse they had never seen before came into the room.

He was very cordial and even brought Henry a cup of coffee. He handed Henry the coffee and then sat down with Shawn's chart and started to chat. Within 3 sips of the coffee Henry was starting to feel funny and the male nurse just kept chatting but he had a smirk on his face. Another minute later Henry passed out in his chair.

Shawn looked frightened and then looked at the male nurse who wasn't kind anymore he had an evil look on his face and he said, "Well, well Shawn, don't worry about dear ole Dad he is just going to sleep for a while. I want him to be rested for when he sees what I am going to do to you."

Shawn was terrified he tried to scoot away from the attacker but he was really not able to move far with all of his injuries. The kidnapper reached over and he started to touch Shawn's trach tube and said, "You won't be needing this." Then he ripped the tube out of his neck. That left Shawn bleeding heavily and gasping for air. As he was gasping for air and slowly bleeding out the kidnapper took his pocketknife out of his pocket and carved the word "GOTCHA" on Shawn's chest.

Down stairs Lassie pulled into the hospital and he became enraged when he saw the Officer who was supposed to be standing guard standing at the entrance. He ran to him and said, "What the Hell are you doing not guarding Spencer?" The young officer answered, "I got a text that the Chief needed me to come down and pick up something from her for Spencer."

Lassiter looked at him funny, "The Chief is not even at the office today her daughter is sick." Then the horrible thought that went through his head showed on his face, "Oh my God, he wouldn't" with that he took off running and told the younger man to follow him. They raced up to Shawn's room.

When they opened the door what they saw made the younger officer loose his lunch in the trashcan by the door. Henry was passed out could and Shawn was gasping for air and turning blue and he was lying in a huge puddle of his own blood. Lassiter began to scream for help. He ran over to Shawn and he didn't know how to help him, he told him help was on the way and rubbed his hair until he heard the doctor coming then he got out of the way and went to Henry.

They doctors came in and feverishly began to work to replace the trach tube and clean up the wound but they soon realized he would have to go into the operating room and they rushed him out of the room and to the OR.

Lassiter gently felt for a pulse on Henry and there was one. He looked at the still dry heaving officer and told him to go to the waiting room and call for back up. He then patted Henry's face and Henry slowly woke up.

Henry opened his eyes and looked at Lassiter funny, then he noticed Shawn was not there and where his bed. Where his bed was now was only a huge puddle of blood. Henry started to stand up but quickly stumbled back down into the chair. With tears in his eyes, he shakily asked Lassiter, "Did the Bastard finish the job?"

Lassiter patted Henry's arm and said, "He did, not sure yet if he succeeded or not. Shawn was just taken into the operating room to try and fix what the man did to him."


	9. Chapter 9

Lassiter patted Henry's arm and said, "He did, and I am not sure yet if he succeeded or not. Shawn was just taken into the operating room to try and fix what the man did to him."

Henry just looked into Lassiter's eyes with tears streaming down his face and said, "I promised him I would not allow anything to happen to him, I let my son down and now he might die."

Lassiter didn't quit know how to comfort Henry, but he knew he had to try; he put his arm awkwardly around his shoulders and gave it his best shot. He said, "Henry you were drugged by some one who you thought worked here. You thought you all were safe here; if anyone is to blame it is the guard who wasn't at his post and the hospital for not noticing. There is nothing you could have done. Now, come on Henry let's go out and wait in the waiting room for word on Shawn and let the crime scene people do their job. They will transfer your stuff to the new room when you he gets one." Henry nodded and followed allowed Lassiter to help him stand.

Lassiter and Henry sat in the surgery waiting room waiting for word on Shawn. Lassiter took a minute to call the Chief and let her know what went on and asked her to contact everyone else.

They were sitting in the waiting room for an hour, both men in complete silence. Juliet, Vick and Gus joined them. They all waited for another hour worried about the man they all loved, who had all ready gone through more than most could survive.

Henry never said a word to anyone; he sat in the corner of the room and just starred. Everyone tried to get Henry to interact, but he wouldn't talk to anyone. He was stuck in a silent struggle of guilt and fear inside himself.

The only person that pulled Henry from his self-induced mental punishment was the Doctor that came from the operating room. The Doctor came over to Henry, and sat down in front of him, he told Henry "Shawn was pretty weak but they were able to reinsert the trach tube and fix the damage that having it forcefully removed caused."

Henry starred at the Doctor in shock and said, "The Bastard ripped the trach tube out?" The Doctor looked sad and said, "I am sorry, Maybe I should start from the beginning, and tell you what happened to Shawn. The man who attacked him ripped the tube from his neck (Henry's hands covered his mouth in disbelief) ripping all the stitches and causing some real damage that took a while to repair. While he was bleeding the attacker proceeded to carve the word 'GOTCHA' in his chest with a pocketknife (everyone in the waiting room gasped when they heard the last part). We were able to stitch the wounds on his chest up and fix the damage but Shawn was weak after the first attack and now, well, he is truly lucky to still be alive."

Henry was in shock at the Doctors report but he did manage to tell the doctor thank you. The Doctor patted Henry on the leg and told him, "Shawn is going to make it, if he has taught me anything he has taught me that he is one stubborn young man that has a whole lot to live for. The nurse will come and get you all when he is settled into his new room."

When the Doctor left Chief Vick looked at Lassiter and Vick and said, "You two need to go out and do whatever you have to do to catch this bastard, I have some hell to give to the rookie that was on guard duty. Vick then knelt down in front of Henry and told him, "Henry, as far as I am concerned there are no other cases but Shawn's right now. We are going to get this son of a bitch."

Henry looked at her and said, "I am his own father, and I let him down and let that maniac hurt him again forgive me if your promises don't mean that much to me."

Vick didn't know what to say to Henry. She just patted his arm and said, "Call us if we can do anything for you or Shawn."

Thirty minutes after everyone left the nurse came in and brought Henry and Gus to Shawn's room. The two men sat on either side of Shawn's bed starring at the new collection of bandages and praying that Shawn can find the strength to wake up again. Both men were determined to stand guard and make sure that no one touched Shawn that didn't absolutely have too.

Maybe 10 words were exchanged the whole evening neither man felt like casual conversation They were both were physically and mentally exhausted. They both sat and watched the rising and falling of Shawn's chest. Both men would nod off but only for minutes at a time every twitch and rouge noise they would wake up ready to attack anyone who dare try and hurt Shawn again.

Around 4 a.m. Shawn's eyes popped wide open and he started to thrash around in the bed and he tried to fight against Gus and Henry. Henry got up and gently held his son's arms down and told him that he was safe now and no one was going to hurt him. Shawn stopped struggling but he kept shaking his head and he cried.

When he calmed down enough Shawn signed to his father, "Did he hurt you?" Henry just smiled a sad tear filled smile at his son. He told him, "He was fine. He put something in my coffee that made me pass out and gave me one hell of a headache but I am fine. Shawn signed, "Good, what happens to me isn't important I want to make sure you all aren't hurt because of me."

Henry reached over and gave Shawn a huge kiss on the forehead. He told his son, "What happens to you is pretty damn important to me. Kid, I am sorry I let you down earlier today, I hope you know I would gladly lay down my life to keep you safe and I failed you this afternoon. I hope you will forgive me"

Shawn reached up and stroked his fathers face and then signed "Bring me a smoothie when they take this tube out and we will call it even" Henry and Gus busted out laughing and Henry said, "You have got a deal son."

With one wise crack Shawn managed to relieve the burden of guilt from his father and put both of the most important men in his life at ease. Both men thought if he can make wise cracks about smoothies then he is going to be just fine.

Henry sat back and let Shawn get some rest. A few minutes later Henry got a text that Lassiter and Buzz were about to go and corner Shawn's attacker he promised him they would let them know how it went.


	10. Chapter 10

Lassiter was sitting at his desk getting more and more frustrated at the lack of leads. His phone rand and the voice on the other end gave Lassiter an anonymous tip that the man who hurt Shawn was hiding out in an abandoned house 5 miles from the hospital. He thought that this tip might have been a trap but he was going to follow the lead anyway. It was the only lead that they had.

Lassiter grabbed Buzz for back up (Juliet couldn't come with a broken ankle). He made sure that they were prepared with vests and back up on standby. They went to the place where the tip told them the man was hiding. The two men busted into the abandoned home they both came in the door with guns drawn.

They took things slow and cleared each room before they moved t the next. Lassiter would go in to a room first and Buzz would back him up. The house seemed clear; they had one room left to clear. Lassiter came to the room and the door was locked so he kicked the door open. Buzz was the first one in the room and as soon as he entered a shot rang out from the hiding man in the room. The bullet hit Buzz in the upper shoulder. Buzz fell to the ground in pain. There was no pause in Lassiter's reaction he proceeded to unload his weapon in the Body of Mr. Romano.

He then used the radio attached to his shoulder to call for back up. He said, "This Detective Lassiter, we have an officer down I repeat we have an officer down and a suspect who is now in hell where he belongs. Requesting an ambulance and back up immediately."

He then went and knelt down beside Buzz and assessed his condition. Buzz was already starting to get up. He assured Lassiter that he was fine and then looked at the dead man lying in the center of the room and then looked back at Lassiter. He said, "I bet you can't wait to tell Henry and Shawn about this."

Lassiter smiled at his handy work and answered, "It is going to be the highlight of my police career to inform them that the nightmare is over."

The ambulance and back up got to the scene; Vick brought Juliet to the scene to check on Buzz. They were so happy to see that the wound Buzz received was relatively minor.

The ambulance took him to the same hospital that Shawn was in. The doctors examined Buzz and sewed up his wound and released him within a few hours. Once he was released Vick, Juliet and Lassiter were waiting for him. Buzz came out with his arm in a sling but other than that he was okay. He was so excited to be able to go with the group upstairs to let Henry and Shawn know that their nightmare is over.

The whole group walked up stairs to Shawn's room. They walked into both Henry and Shawn asleep. Normally they would not have bothered them but they knew this news would be worth waking up for. Juliet kissed Shawn awake and Lassiter walked over and placed his hand on Henry's shoulder to wake him up. Once they were both awake Lassiter was excited to begin, "We have some exciting news for you two. Mr. Romano the man who has caused so much grief and pain is now a resident of Hell thanks to some smart shooting from yours truly."

Henry was speechless; he looked between Shawn and Lassiter. He was able to stammer and ask, "The nightmare is over, it really over?" Lassiter looked t him with a huge smile on his face and said, "Yes, Henry the nightmare is over and now all you two have to worry about is helping Shawn get better."

Shawn patted his Dad and signed something for Dad to tell the group. He signed, "Thank you so much for getting that crazy man for me." Lassiter touched Shawn on the shoulder and said, "It was my pleasure to get rid of him for you and now all you have to do is concentrate on getting better and getting yourself back to work to irritate me."

Shawn smiled he was overwhelmed that this nightmare was really over. Henry got up and he hugged everyone in the room and thanked everyone for the part they played in stopping this maniac. For the first time in over a week Henry was able to take a breath.

The group didn't stay long they didn't want to tire Shawn out even with good news. They exchanged one more hug and soon it was just Henry, Gus and Shawn in the room. Shawn lay back in his bed and closed his eyes.

Henry noticed Shawn and became worried at the look on his face and asked what was the matter? Shawn signed, "I was preparing myself to try and figure out how to tell you and Gus goodbye, I thought that there was no way I was going to survive this nightmare and now that he is gone maybe I have a chance to make it through this nightmare."

Henry had to take a deep breath and pause for a second to keep the tears from freely falling down his face. He began with a broken voice, "You are going to survive because Spencer men don't know how not to survive and you will have me right there beside you every step of the way." Gus interjected, "And you have me to Buddy."


	11. Chapter 11

Six weeks went by Shawn was still on the trach tube but all of his other injuries were healing nicely. Henry and Gus were men of there words they stood by Shawn every minute of the six weeks.

Henry, Gus, Juliet, Buzz, Karen and even Lassiter took turns making sure that Shawn was never left alone one minute of those 6 weeks they worked with him physically to help to make him strong and they laughed with him during his high moments and they all held him and allowed him to cry on their shoulder during the down times.

Six weeks to the day after the initial attack Shawn was finally strong enough for the surgery he needed to repair his legs. The night before surgery Henry and Shawn sat watching television. Shawn turned off the television and signed to his Dad one simple phrase that broke Henry's heart, "I am afraid."

Henry turned to toward Shawn, he cupped his face in his hands and reached over and gave him a kiss on the to of the head. He said, "I understand son, I am nervous too. I know you have been through so much it hardly seems fair that you have to go through even more. I know you will get through this surgery and you will do it with the same courage and strength that you have had the last six weeks."

Shawn smiled at his Dad and signed "Thank you, for that and everything else. Love you pops." Henry held hands with his son and they both got some sleep before surgery the next day.

Before the sun had raised the Doctor who had been treating Shawn came in to see him. He came in and sat on the other side of the bed of Henry and asked the two men if they had any questions before surgery? They didn't have any questions.

The Doctor told them, he expected Shawn to make it through surgery easily. The Doctor also told the two men that they were going to try and remove the trach tube and insert a ventilator, which would be the next step to getting Shawn off of all forms of life support. Henry looked at Shawn and they both smiled at each other. The Doctor smiled at the two men and said, "See I told you that Shawn is doing really well and I expect him to do continue to do well. Now lets go fix his legs."

With that the Doctor went out and orderlies came and took Shawn to surgery. Henry took up his all to familiar seat in the surgery waiting area. Soon Lassiter, Juliet and Gus joined him. Henry filled them in on all that the doctor told him and how he expected Shawn to make it through surgery just fine. He told me that the surgery should take 4 hours.

Seven hours later Henry was about sick with worry. He was going between wanting to throw up and wanting to go scream at someone. At hour 8 the doctor finally came out of the operating room. Henry and the others jumped up to meet him to find out how Shawn was doing. The doctor told the group to come and sit down and he would explain everything.

Everyone sat and the Doctor began, "The knee surgery went perfectly, Shawn is now the proud owner of two artificial knees. The problems came in when we tried to remove the trach tube. We tried to insert the ventilator but his trachea was still collapsed and during the process of trying he went into cardiac arrest."

Henry interrupted the Doctor, "He went into cardiac arrest? You told me that you didn't think he would have any issues, what in the Hell happened and is he okay now?"

The Doctor smiled an understanding smile at the frightened and irritated father and continued, " We were not expecting anything to go wrong, his bodies reaction was a surprise to us as well. It took some time to get him back. Every time we were able to get his heart started again his rhythm would go crazy and he would crash. We finally decided to insert a pacemaker in his chest and so far, it has done its job and he is stable. He is back in his room in the ICU and you all can go back and see him. He will be kept under sedation for a while but I know you will want to sit with him. I am so sorry he had these complications but I am confidant the he will be okay now."

Henry sat in silence for a moment and then he got up and stormed out of the waiting room. Juliet and Gus thanked the doctor and then the group followed Henry. They all knew where he was going. They all went to Shawn's room and through the large picture window they could see Henry sitting beside Shawn's bed holding his hand and crying. Not just crying, he was sobbing and you could see the older mans shoulder jumping with each sob. The group decided to give Henry a few minutes to be alone with Shawn so they went to the cafeteria to get some coffee and food for themselves and to bring back for Henry.

Henry didn't yell, he didn't scream, he sat and held his son's hand and he cried. All the tears that had been pushed down and bottled up from the first moment that he received that text for help; they all came flowing out while he sat next to his only son. The only words that he spoke were in the form of a question, "When is this nightmare ever going to end?"

(Thank you guys for reading and reviewing. Sorry this chapter is so short, next one will be longer.)


	12. Chapter 12

It took a long three days for Shawn to open his eyes again. When he did Henry was the first face he saw. Shawn tried to speak but he when nothing came out. He moved his fingers to his neck and felt that he still had the trach tube in. He looked at Henry with a worried look on his face and signed, "What happened and how long have I been out?"

Henry looked at his son sadly and began to tell him what happened, "Well son, your knee replacements went really well, you have achieved a childhood dream you are part robot now. But the knees aren't the only artificial part. When they tried to insert a ventilator your heart stopped and it would never get a right rhythm back so they had to put a pacemaker in. You have been out for 3 long days."

Shawn just looked at his father confused and then he touched the small raised area right above his heart. He leaned back into the pillows and closed his eyes. He signed, "When is this nightmare ever going to end?"

Henry rubbed Shawn's arm and tried to think of something to say but all he could do is remind him that he is not going through this alone. Shawn couldn't do anything but put his arm over his eyes and hide himself as he cried.

Shawn did remarkably well over the next week physically but everything that he had gone through was starting to take its toll on him emotionally. Shawn went through the motions of his exercises but you could tell his heart was not in them.

He would answer any questions you asked him but you were lucky if he answered you with one or two word signs. He was sleeping about 20 hours a day everyone who visited could tell that he was slowly fading away and everyone, including his doctors began to get worried.

One evening it was Lassiter's turn to sit with Shawn. When he arrived in Shawn's room it was difficult for Henry to leave him. He kissed Shawn's sleeping head and told him he would see him in the morning. He asked Lassiter to step outside with him and he told him that he was really worried about Shawn. He told Lassiter that he hadn't said two words to him all day. Lassiter told Henry, to "Go home and get some rest. Shawn is strong and he will be okay." Henry said, "I hope so Lassiter, I hope so."

Lassiter came in and took the chair that Henry vacated; he sat silently for a few minutes. Then he looked at Shawn and said, "Spencer, I know you are awake we need to talk, I know you are not asleep and don't pull any crap with me remember I know sign language too."

Shawn opened his eyes and turned his head toward Lassiter and shot him an evil look. He signed, "Leave me alone dog!" Lassiter angrily told Shawn, "My name is NOT dog!" Shawn rolled his eyes and finger spelled L-A-S-S-I-E. Lassiter said, "See that wasn't that hard now was it. Now listen Spencer, what the hell is going on with you. Your Dad said that you haven't said two words to him and he almost didn't leave because he was so worried about you."

Shawn just shook his head and signed, "Leave me alone L". Shawn tried to roll over to his other side, facing away from Lassiter but Lassiter stopped him, "You are going to talk to me, I am not going to let you keep this in any longer."

Shawn looked at Lassiter with tears and his eyes and signed, "Fine, you want to know what's wrong with me. I have been kidnapped, beaten and tortured and I have been in the hospital for a month, I have two artificial knees, I cant breath on my own and oh yeah I would be dead with out this thing in my chest. I am tired of fighting I just want to die; everyone would be better off without me. Now LEAVE ME ALONE"

Lassiter looked at Shawn with an incredulous look on his face, "I cannot believe you Spencer. Your father has spent the last month of his life crying and standing beside you. Not to mention the rest of your friends moving heaven and earth to be here with you and help you recover. Yes, you have had a really rough time of it, but that is not permission for you to give up. I thought you were better than that. No one has given up on you and they aren't going to let you give up on yourself. Do you hear me?"

Shawn looked at Lassiter with tears now streaming down his face. He signed, "I am just not getting better and I am tired, it isn't fair for Dad or any of you to be saddled with me anymore."

Lassiter got a tissue and wiped Shawn's eyes and then he said, " What wouldn't be fair is to make your Father and Juliet plan your funeral. What wouldn't be fair is the people that would suffer and die because you didn't get better and catch the people that hurt them, and it wouldn't be fair to me to have to work with a partner that is a shell of her former self because her stupid selfish boyfriend gave up. It wouldn't be fair to me to not make me come save your sorry ass from some stupid trouble you got yourself into. My point is you cannot give up, I know you have been more than most people could bare but you are strong and you are stubborn and damn it Spencer you are loved by too many people to give up. Do you hear me?"

By the time Lassiter was done Shawn was sobbing. He wouldn't even open his eyes he just cried. Then all of the sudden he exhaled really hard and his heart started to go crazy. The doctors came in and made Lassiter leave while they worked on Shawn.

Ten minutes later the doctor came out and said, "They got the heart rhythm steady again, they had to shock it back but he is doing fine now. The Doctor chided him to be careful not get him upset anymore." Lassiter thanked the doctor and then he set out to something that he would rather be shot then do and that is call Henry.

Henry picked up on the first ring and said, "Lassiter what is wrong with my son?" Lassiter sighed and said, "Well Henry his heart started to go crazy again tonight and the pacemaker couldn't restart the rhythm so they had to shock him back to a normal rhythm, he is doing fine now but I thought you would want to…." He was interrupted with a panicked, "I will be right there!"


	13. Chapter 13

Lassiter sat in the waiting room with his head in his hands feeling bad for upsetting Shawn so much. He knew he needed to stay and talk to Henry but dealing with Henry when it has anything to do with Shawn is not easy. It had only been 10 minutes since he said he would be "right there" when he came busting into the waiting room. The first words out of his mouth were, "What the Hell happened to my son!"

Lassiter took a deep breath and asked Henry to sit down for a minute. When he finally sat Lassiter said, "I pushed Shawn to talk to me. I could tell he was faking sleeping, so I pushed him to talk like I would normally push him, what he said though really surprised me. He told me that he wanted to die. He said that he had been in the hospital for a month and he couldn't even breathe on his own on top of the other tons of things still wrong with him. He said it wasn't fair for you to be saddled with him and he just wanted to be left alone so he could die and everyone would be better off for it. He got really upset crying and that is when his heart cut up."

Henry looked at Lassiter shocked, "He thinks that I would be better off with out him? He thinks he is a burden to me? Doesn't he realize I almost lost him and I would take him in any shape I can have him." He just sat there rubbing his head to exhausted to even cry he looked at Lassiter defeated, "How can I keep him from giving up. Lassiter…Carlton, I cant loose him, if he stops breathing so will I. He is my everything. It breaks my heart to think that he could think for one minute that I could EVER be better off without him."

Lassiter sat next to the older Spencer rubbing his back he tried to think of something meaningful or profound to tell the grieving father but the only thing he could think of was, "Tell him what you just told me. You can't make him fight but if he at least knows how you feel, and he does know but he but he just might need to hear it after he has gone through so much."

Henry patted Lassiter on the knee and told the Detective, "You're right, and thank you for being a friend to my son in a time when he really needs one." Then he got up and headed to the doors of the ICU. He stopped when he noticed Lassiter hadn't moved, "You're not coming in?" Lassiter looked at his watch, "Nah I am going to head home it sounds like you and Shawn need some alone time to talk." Henry just shook his head and headed into see Shawn.

He quietly came into Shawn's room. Shawn was not asleep but when he heard the door open he decided to pretend he was. Henry sat down next to Shawn. He gently held Shawn's hand next to his face and said, "Oh Shawn, Son, I love you so much. I hope you know that you are the most important person in my life. When you hurt, I hurt and when your heart has stopped so has mine. Oh God Kid you are worrying me so much, the health stuff you can beat you're a tough kid but the mental toll this is taking on you is starting to worry me and I don't know how to help you. I just hope you know that I love you no matter what, Always and forever."

He closed his eyes and quietly wept while holding his sons hand next to his face. He didn't notice his son looking at him. Shawn started to gently move his fingers up and down Henry's face in an attempt to comfort him. Henry was surprised by his son's actions but sat still and let his son comfort him. After a minute he opened his eyes and saw the most beautiful site he had ever seen, Shawn looking back at him smiling.

Henry wiped his eyes quickly and said, "Well good evening young man, I thought you were going to sleep the evening away. I heard you had a rough night. I am really sorry." Shawn smiled and signed, "Those paddle things really hurt (he made a pained face) but they do the job. What are you doing here you should be resting at home, I thought dog L was here with me?"

Henry told his son, "I heard you had a rough night and I enjoy being here with you. I am getting used to having your sorry Caracas right with me. I sleep better when I hear you breathing next to me. Oh and who is Dog L?" Right then Lassiter who was listening at the door said. "I think "Dog L" is me. Shawn smiled at Lassiter as he walked in and put his finger to his nose to tell Lassie that he was right.

Lassiter said, "Let me guess Dog L is the name sign you are now giving me?" Shawn smiled with the same old ornery smile and shook his head yes. Lassiter rolled his eyes and tried to act annoyed but seeing that mischievous spark back in Spencer's eyes made him too happy to stay annoyed at him.

Lassiter came in and grabbed his jacket and book and told the Spencer men he was sorry for interrupting he had forgotten these (holding up his jacket and book). I am going to head home now, Good night!

He started to head out and Shawn through a plastic cup at his back. He spun around and groused, "Hey, why did you throw something at me?" Shawn smiled sincerely at Lassiter and signed, "Dog L (Lassie) Thank you for the tough love earlier, you said what I needed to hear."

Lassiter all of the sudden became fascinated with his shoes while tears threatened to fill his eyes. He gathered his emotions and signed, "Your welcome, pain in my ass" Shawn busted out laughing and so did Lassiter and he told the two men good night and headed home.

After a minute of silence Shawn noticed his dad thinking really hard about something and Shawn asked, "What was wrong?" Henry said, "Nothing, I can't remember the signs that Lassiter used what did he call you?" Shawn grabbed the pen and paper off the bed table and wrote it out, he said, "Your welcome, pain in my ass" Henry laughed and told his son, "So is that your new sign name?" He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

The next day was a lot brighter for Shawn. The little talk he had with Lassiter made a huge difference in his outlook and it showed. It made Henry's heart happy to see his son act more and more like his old self.

Shawn spent the day laughing and carrying on with his normal array of visitors. Henry was still not ready to go home again and leave his boy, but he was feeling better then he was the day before.

That evening when the doctor came in to see Shawn he came bearing some news. He pulled his chair next to Shawn's bed and said, "I have a colleague who will be in town for three days. She is a highly skilled reconstructive surgeon and when I told her about you she would like to try and reconstruct your damaged trachea. The surgery is not guaranteed and with as many issues as you have had with your heart, I would normally never suggest you do it but having her do the surgery is your best shot at getting off of life support and I don't want you to miss out on that. The only downside is she will have to do it in the morning."

Henry and Shawn looked at each other. Shawn looked at his Dad with a mixture of excitement and horror. Henry asked the doctor, "Be honest doc, how risky would this surgery be?"

The Doctor sighed trying to find the right answer, "I won't lie it is pretty risky Shawn is still pretty fragile, but if we don't do this surgery, with this woman it may be MONTHS, if ever we are able to remove the trach tube. Listen you two talk about it, but I will need your answer by 10 tonight."

Shawn signed, "Thank you." Henry got up and shook the doctors hand. He was walking him out and he stopped before he left and told Henry, "This is the best chance Shawn has at being normal again. He will never be able to chase bad guys again if he has that trach tube in him. Please think hard about the surgery."

Henry smiled and said, "I promise we will think long and hard about it." The doctor smiled and then left the two men alone to talk.

Henry sat back in his chair and asked Shawn what he thought about the surgery. Shawn had a serious look of concentration on his face and signed, "Dad, I know it is risky but if you will help me do something tonight, I think I would really like to try the surgery. I want more than anything to be able to talk again and work at Psych again. It is really scary but hey, compared to everything else I have been through it really isn't."

Henry was conflicted, he wanted Shawn to have his old life back but he was so terrified of loosing him he would be happy just to have him by his side. Henry asked, "What do you want my help to do?"

Shawn was quiet for a minute, "I want to write a letter to everyone as sort of my will, just in case." Henry got really fidgety, he wanted to scream and yell or maybe just sit and cry but he knew right now his boy needed him to be strong and help him do this.

He agreed and went out to the nurses' desk and got a couple of pens and some paper and sat next to Shawn and said, "Okay Son, I am ready, remember sign slow, I don't have your kind of memory."

Shawn cracked his fingers and began;

_Gus, Thank you so much for being my best friend. You were always there for me and I could never thank you enough. If this surgery doesn't go well and I die, (Henry had to swallow hard here to keep from crying), I want you to have all my records and all of my toys and I want you to have my Norton, or what is left of it. Fix it up and learn to ride it and when you ride down the road and feel the wind in your face know that I am in that wind giving you a fist bump from heaven._

_Love you so much, (like a brother not a gay thing) _

_Shawn_

Henry folded the letter up and put it in the envelope. He did this simple task very slowly to keep himself from breaking down. Then he grabbed another sheet of paper and sat ready for letter 2.

_Juliet, _

_If this surgery doesn't go well, I guess we wont get to have our forever like we dreamed. Know that you were my first love. I went out with a lot of girls but you are the only one I would give up my bike for. If I die, cry for me and miss me but not for long, the one thing I wanted in my life was to make you happy and I could never rest in peace if you weren't happy. I want you to have my leather jacket, anything you want from my apartment and the box in my dads top drawer. I have been saving it for the right time but if I die, that time will never come but I still want you to have it, just like you have my heart. _

_My heart will always heart you, _

_Shawn_

Henry had to stop for a minute after that one. He couldn't hold the tears off anymore and neither could Shawn. He took a deep breath and asked his Dad if he was ready he had 3 more to write. His Dad let out a deep breath and said, "Shoot"

_Mom, _

_Thank you for telling me the truth about Dad and you. Thank you for kicking me and not letting me loose any more time with Dad. I forgive you for not being there when I was a kid. Know that I love you Mom, always and forever. _

_Love ,  
Goose._

Henry sealed it in an envelope and asked Shawn, "What did your Mom tell you?" Shawn smiled, "That you were actually the good guy." He smiled at his Dad and held up the sign for I love you.

Henry got up and he hugged his son as tight as he dared with all the tubes and then picked up the paper, ok who next.

_Detective Lassiter,_

_Thank you for being such a grumpy hard ass and not making things easy for me. I never liked the easy way, it got boring. Working with you was never boring. Over the last 7 years you became my friend and my brother. Thank you for being there to save my ass and well just being there. One last word to you detective, you astound me sir. _

_Your friend whether you like it or not, _

_Pain in the ass aka Shawn _

Shawn was crying now and told his Dad one more. His Dad steadied himself thinking that this was his letter. He was shocked when Shawn signed,

_Chief Vick and all my friends at the SBPD_

_Working with you amazing men and women was the highlight of my life. I enjoyed every minute I spent at work. You guys are my friends and you accepted me even if I didn't have a badge. Chief Vick, Thank you for believing in me and putting up with my crap. You are the best Chief there is. _

_I will miss you all hopefully God will let me open a Psych in heaven, but I guess there are no murderers or arsonurderes in heaven. _

_All my love and respect _

_Shawn._

_Ps, tell Woody to make me look good for the funeral. Tell him I am counting on him. _

His Dad finished and held his head low. He was trying not to show Shawn his tears but Shawn was just as teary. He closed up the letter just as Lassiter came in to sit with Shawn to let Henry go home. Henry wiped his eyes and kissed Shawn on the forehead and told him he would be back way before surgery tomorrow.

Lassiter was stunned and said, "What surgery?" Henry not wanting Lassiter to see him crying just said, "Ask him", and walked out.

Shawn and Lassie were left in the room and he asked why they were both crying and what surgery. Shawn told him everything and Lassie just said, "Oh" and got quiet. Shawn signed, "Dog L I need you to take down a letter for me." Lassiter picked up the pen and said sure. Shawn wiped his eyes and let out a deep breath.

_Papa Monkey, _

_You are an amazing Dad. I know we fought a lot and got on each other's nerves but we knew that we loved each other. You have sat by my bed all my life but the last six weeks have meant the world to me. When I open my eyes and I see your face I know I am safe. You never stopped loving me even when I was pretty unlovable and you stood by me when I started Psych not because you believed in it but you knew it made me happy. Thank you for making me the man that I was. Everything good that was Shawn Spencer was because of you Dad. I love you so very much. Even if I am not here in the flesh know that I am never far from your heart. _

Love_, Shawnie your baby monkey. _

Lassiter wiped his eyes and looked at Shawn and said, "What the hell was that?" Shawn smiled and said, "My last goodbye, just in case tomorrow doesn't go well."

(thank you for sticking with this LONG story. I went from whumping them to whumping you the reader lol There is one more chapter and an epilogue and that is it for Help 911. Please let me know what you think :D)


	15. Chapter 15

Before the sun rose the next morning, Henry was back at the hospital to be with his son. When he got there both Shawn and Lassiter were asleep. He didn't have the heart to wake either of them up so he just sat there and looked at his son. He tried to take in every inch of his boy. He knew that today would be risky for his son but he also knew he had to let him do this surgery. He knew that Shawn needed to be normal. Henry gently ran his fingers through Shawn's hair and soon Shawn slowly opened his eyes and looked at his Dad.

Shawn couldn't speak but there was so much that was communicated with that look, he didn't need to speak. Henry bent down close to his son and whispered, "I hope you know that I love you more than my life." Shawn smiled at his Dad and signed, "I hope you know the same." Henry began to rub Shawn's head some more and told him he should get some more rest. Shawn closed his eyes and did what his Dad suggested.

Right after sunrise Lassiter woke up and so did Shawn. Gus, Juliet and Chief Vick joined them. They had about an hour to visit and eat the breakfast Gus brought before Shawn was taken back to surgery. Gus noticed Shawn looking longingly at the food and promised him all the smoothies he could drink after surgery. The deal was sealed with a fist bump.

The hour passed too quickly for everyone, including Shawn. He looked at each of the people in the room with him. Each person meant so much to Shawn, all he could think about was how much he would miss them if things didn't go well in surgery. Everyone took their turn telling Shawn good luck, a fist bump was shared with Gus, a pat from Lassiter, a motherly kiss on the forehead from the Chief and a gentle kiss from Jules. On his way out of the room his Dad, who was holding his hand through all the well wishes bent down and kissed Shawn on the forehead and told his son, "I cant wait to hear your voice after surgery, you are going to do great."

Shawn smiled at his Dad and signed that he loved him and reminded his Dad to hand out the letters. With one last wave to everyone he was whisked to surgery. The doctor said surgery should only be about two hours. The group went to the all too familiar surgery waiting room and began their wait.

The first hour was casual chatting about what they all wanted to do after Shawn got better and came home.

The second hour was tenser, waiting and watching for any signs of the doctor. The third hour was filled with panic.

The end of the third hour a very tired doctor came out and informed the group, "The surgery is not going as smoothly as we hoped. We have had to restart Shawn's heart four times, but there is no going back at this point, I don't know how long things will take but I will let you know when I have something more to report."

When he started to walk away Henry stopped him, "Doc, what are my son's chances of coming out of this alive?" The Doctor hung his head low, "With the issues he has had so far, it isn't looking good. We will not stop fighting though, I promise you that. Shawn has not given up this past month and neither will we." Henry was able to squeak out a small "thank you" before the doctor went back to the operating room.

He sat for a minute in his chair staring at the floor. Everyone was waiting to see how he was going to react. Everyone but Lassiter all ready had tears freely flowing. Henry closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He reached into his coat pocket and took out four little envelopes and gave them to each of the friends waiting with him.

Chief Vick took hers and asked, "What is in the envelope?" Henry tried but he just couldn't speak so Lassiter spoke for him, "If I am right these were written for each of us, just in case things didn't go well today." Henry shook his head and looked at Lassiter as to ask how he knew, still not able to get a word out from the knot in his throat. Lassiter reached in his jacket and pulled out another small envelope. He told Henry, "I know what they were because he had me write one for you after you left."

Henry's hands were shaking so bad he could barely grab onto the envelope. Lassiter put the letter in his hand and cupped his hand with both of his for just a moment to steady the older man. All five of them went to other places in the waiting room to read their letter privately.

Chief Vick read hers and sat quietly crying, she held it close to her heart and couldn't help but smile through the tears when she thought back at all the crazy things Shawn did to make all their days brighter at the station. Then she cried a little harder when she thought about what it would be like with out him.

Gus read his and sat with his head in his hands, you couldn't see his face but you could tell by his shoulders moving that he was sobbing. You could here him muttering, "Shawn, you better not die on me. Please don't die on me."

Lassiter read his and didn't cry but he sat silently with his eyes closed trying desperately to squash down any tears that were threatening. He neatly folded the letter and put it in the pocket of his jacket. With a little pat on the outside of his jacket he promised himself to keep that letter safe.

Eventually Chief Vick opened her eyes to check on Juliet. When she did she saw Juliet with her head against the corner of the wall and she was hugging the letter like it was a baby. Her entire body was shaking from crying so hard. Chief Vick walked over to her and gently placed her hand on Juliet's shoulder and when she did Juliet turned around and fell into Chief Vicks arms saying over and over, "He cant die Karen, he just cant." Karen did her best to sooth Juliet with the same tones she would soothe her daughter with. Juliet was not going to be consoled, not yet. She just kept crying until she eventually cried herself out after a few minutes then they both sat in the chair in silence.

Lassiter opened his eyes and saw that everyone had read their letters and were now in sobs except for Henry. He just sat there with big red eyes holding the envelope afraid to open it. Lassiter quietly got up and sat next to Henry. He said, "I know what is in that letter and has things in it that he wanted you to know."

Henry looked at Lassiter with a voice cracking from the strain he said, "If I read it then it could be true that this is my sons last day of life. Lassiter I can't handle that thought. I can't imagine my life without him in it. Oh God, my sweet, sweet, boy."

Lassiter asked the elder Spencer of he would like for him to read it to him? Henry handed him the letter and said sure. He took the envelope and gently opened it and pulled out the letter. He didn't get past the first line before Henry broke down sobbing. He told Lassiter, "Shawn calls me Papa Monkey and I call him my Baby Monkey because his favorite book as a kid was about a papa monkey and his baby monkey and…" Henry couldn't speak anymore he just cried as he listened to the rest of the letter. Every line of the letter brought more tears from Henry.

Lassiter finished the letter and put it back into the envelope and put it in Henry's hands. Henry Just kissed the envelope and put it in his jacket pocket. Lassiter put his arm around Henry and just let the man cry.

An hour later the group was sitting together again. They all gathered strength from each other. At the 8th hour after Shawn was brought into surgery the doctor finally reappeared. He was exhausted and bloody and the look on his face caused everyone's hearts to sink to the floor.

He came and stood in front of the group and told them that he wanted to talk to them in private and asked them to follow him. They all stepped into a private recovery room that had the curtain drawn. They figured that they were going to hear what they feared most, that Shawn had died and they were going to be given a chance to say goodbye.

The doctor rubbed the back of his neck and began, "As you can tell the surgery didn't go as well as planned. We struggled for much of this time to restart his heart after he would crash. I am really sorry to have to tell you that…" He pulled the curtain to show Shawn sitting up in the bed with out a trach tube and with out a ventilator Shawn whispered, "The surgery was a success"

Every ones face lit up when they saw Shawn and heard his voice. Henry looked at the doctor and said, "Doc that was cruel, you almost gave me a heart attack." The doctor smiled and said, "Blame him!" Shawn smiled the biggest smile. He spoke, this time holding his throat, "I am sorry guys, I wanted to surprise you myself." The doctor looked at Shawn and said, "Enough talking for the moment."

The Doctor looked at the group, "The part about his heart was the truth, we lost count how many times he crashed but eventually my colleague was able to finish the surgery. It will take some speech therapy and some time for his voice to come back more than a whisper but he is well on his way to recovery."

Everyone thanked the Doctor and then went to Shawn's side Henry was first to his son's side he gave him a long and close hug (he could finally get close with out all those machines). Juliet came and gave him a HUGE kiss, that made his pale skin blush and Gus came and hugged him too and told him he would bring him a smoothie tomorrow, a promise is a promise. Shawn smiled and fist bumped his friend.

Chief Vick came and told Shawn how excited she was to see him and hear his voice. She said with a crooked smile, "I will expect you to be back at work pretty soon." Shawn smiled and whispered, "Yes Ma'am"

Lassiter didn't intrude on everyone's moments with Shawn he just stood in the corner and thanked God that this nightmare was finally over and they would soon have there resident Pain in the butt back causing trouble. Lassiter smiled at the thought, he wouldn't want it any other way.


	16. Chapter 16

Epilogue

After the surgery to repair Shawn's trachea worked, he stayed in the hospital for another two weeks. They wanted him to regain some of his strength before they let him go. When he was released he was, badly scared, walking with the aide of crutches and he had a pacemaker. But he was alive and every one was so excited to see him finally leave the hospital.

Henry was prepared to house his son for the foreseeable future. The Doctor gave Henry a portable defibulater to have at the house, just in case his heart ever stopped again.

Shawn was so excited to be out of the hospital and living again. He tried to bounce around like he did before his attack, but he soon realized that even if he was out of the hospital he still had a long road of healing.

Three months later, Shawn had strengthened his legs enough to only need a cane to walk with, and his stamina improved. He could go for three or four hours now without having to stop and rest.

One Day at breakfast Henry asked Shawn what he wanted to do today. Shawn looked at his Dad and said, "I think I am ready to visit the station."

Henry looked at Shawn horrified, "I am sorry son, but you are not, I repeat NOT ready to work a case yet."

Shawn chuckled, "Chill your Jets Big D, I know I am not ready to work yet but I really miss my friends, I would like to go and visit." Henry looked at his son not really believing that was all he wanted, but agreed to take him after breakfast.

Henry and Shawn went out of the house and headed for the truck. Shawn's cane slipped on the gravel and that made Shawn slip and fall face first on the ground.

His Dad, in a panic, rushed to his side and helped him to his feet. The color went out of Henry's face when he saw that Shawn had busted his lip and his lip was pouring blood. Henry handed him his cane and put his arm around him and ushered him right back inside.

The station visit did not happen for another week. The day they set out for the station happened to be the 6-month anniversary of his capture. That wasn't a memory that should be celebrated but him being alive 6 months later was most definitely a reason to celebrate.

Shawn stood at the doors of the SBPD and his Dad noticed that he was actually worried about going in. His Dad patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go on Son, it is time." Shawn looked at his Dad and smiled and took a deep breath before he busted into the station loudly announcing his triumphant arrival back!

Shawn was greeted with everyone grouped together as he walked in. They station was decorated with dozens of pineapple balloons and a table full of everything pineppley. Over the table had a hung a huge sign that said,

"WELCOME BACK SHAWN. :D "

Shawn just stood there smiling and then looked at his Dad, "You knew about this didn't you?" His Dad smiled, "Guilty as Charged."

The Fake Psychic loved all the well wishes and hugs he got from his coworkers. Chief went to the middle of the crowed and got everyone's attention, "Shawn, I want to welcome you back to the SBPD, I know you aren't here to work and that is okay, whenever you are, I will have plenty of work for you to do. Until then I hope you will come by and 'bug' us. We have missed your smiling face. I think I speak for us all when I say, I am so glad you are alive. We love you Shawn."

It was another 6 months before Shawn felt ready to go on the field again to work a case. He took things very slow. But eventually the only evidence that he was ever attacked and injured were the scars that dotted his body.

It took over a year but eventually Shawn Spencer was back as Santa Barbara Police Departments Head Psychic. Everyone, even Lassiter was happy to have Shawn, the crazy, pain in the ass, psychic back.

The end

Thank you again for sticking with me through whump and heavy emotions. You guys are amazing.


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